Paris Continued

Mom and I went to the Charles de Gaulle International Airport on Tuesday, July 27th to get on our flight back home. When we got to the check-in counter, the United representative asked us if we would be willing to volunteer our seats on the flight on Tuesday and return home on Wednesday. They offered to put us up in a hotel with our meals covered, they offered us a business class upgrade on our flight the following day, and they offered us each $800 in travel vouchers! It sounded too good to be true! We got to the gate and they called us up to the counter, and sure enough, they needed our seats. Within about 3 hours, we had reclaimed our luggage, received our vouchers, and checked into our new hotel. We had a quick lunch and then journeyed back into the city. We got to the airport around 9:30am and ended up back in Paris around 5pm. It was difficult finding our way back into the city, but we made it! We didn't have the chance to go into the Eiffel Tower earlier in the trip, so that was our mission with our extra day. We waited in line for almost an hour just to get tickets. Then we went up to the second floor and waited in line for another half hour to get tickets to the top. When we got to the ticket counter they would not sell mom a ticket because of her cane, and the fact that if the lifts broke, it would be more than 1,000 steps down to the bottom! We were a little bummed, but we still got to see the view from the second floor.

Eiffel Tower

Mom and I on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower.

Paris and the Sacre-Couer

The Champ de Mars

One of the two lines to get tickets up to the second floor. Crazy!!

We went back to the airport around 10am on Wednesday morning and when we checked-in at the ticket counter the agent said we didn't have confirmed seats on the flight. Too good to be true? I guess so! Somehow instead of confirming us on the flight, they waitlisted us! That was not part of the deal and they knew that. So after some finagling and about 30 minutes of waiting, we were confirmed on the flight. It was a lot of trouble, but totally worth it to fly so far in such nice seats! It made the flight go much faster! I also enjoyed having some time with just Mom and I! We had so much fun, but as I always say, it is so nice to be back home!